sugar, spell it out
by acronymed
Summary: AU. There's something poisonous in the air tonight. — Roxas/Kairi, Axel. Discontinued.
1. no

**TITLE | **sugar, spell it out  
**PROMPT |** in the air tonight  
**FANDOM |** Kingdom Hearts  
**PAIRING |** Roxas/Kairi  
**RATING |** M  
**PART |** 1/5  
**NOTES |** Oh, my God. I am actually going to complete a multipart fic for this fandom. Rejoice! Disclaimer applies to all chapters.

* * *

Kairi was standing on a dirty street corner at three in the morning, waiting for the light to change, when the alarm at the old laboratory run by her grandfather went off. The siren was loud enough to be heard at least halfway into the city limits, and the sound bounced between the buildings, clear and shrill.

She curved her fingers into the cuffs of her slightly oversized leather jacket, the hem slightly frayed as it brushed her hips, and stepped onto the street. She knew what each alarm meant, had every sound and screech memorized from years of Ansem checking them. A low whistle meant there was a risk of something blowing up. The one that sounds like humming means evacuate. This one, the one thrumming in her ears, meant -

High pitched and shrieking. Somebody spilled something, somewhere, and now it was in the city, and it was dangerous.

Automatically, she pulled her purple scarf over her nose, mismatched grey and black canvas shoes wet as she started to jog towards her apartment. It'd rained the night before and there were puddles all over the ground.

When she hit the sidewalk that lead straight to her place, she saw the black van parked out front. She sighed, tipped the front of her hat over her eyes, and walked towards it.

"Axel," she said, "what did I tell you about camping out in front of my apartment? It's _creepy._"

He lifted his head off the steering wheel and tilted his head towards her, smiling his predator smile. When he reached over and unlocked the passenger's side door, she blinked.

"No time for pleasantries, sis," he drawled, tugging at the handle just enough so he could kick the door open the rest of the way. "Hop in – the old man's just itching to see you."

She hesitantly climbed inside, slammed the door shut, and grabbed her seatbelt. The seat was warm – she scrunched up her nose and decided she didn't want to know who'd been sitting in it before her. "I didn't even do anything this time," she muttered, smoothing out her skirt. "I was at the karaoke bar with everyone."

"It's not about what you did," Axel said, pulling out and onto the street a lot faster than Kairi thought possible. She was used to Axel's driving, really, but she white-knuckled the dashboard anyways. "It's more about what you need to _do."_

"I don't like the sound of that," she said, ignoring the way he grinned at her with his even white teeth and slanted green eyes in favour of staring out the window. They were already close to the edge of the downtown east side, where the buildings stopped abruptly and turned into farmland. "I'm not going to be his test subject for anything."

"Relax, Princess." Axel reached out and tugged on a strand of her hair. "He won't be sticking any tubes into you just yet."

"Better not be," she went. When they sidled up alongside the curb just outside the main building, Axel unbuckled his own seatbelt and started to climb out. She stared. "Wait, you're coming with me? You never come inside!"

"Things change," he said, sounding disturbingly solemn. "C'mon – it's better if we're inside than out here."

She slammed the door behind her when she got out, just to see him wince, and straightened her rumpled t-shirt. He grabbed her wrist before she could move her hands and tugged her towards the sliding glass doors, his expression borderline angry. "Axel?"

"Hm?"

"The alarm," she started, then stopped when he looked at her. They bypassed security easily because everyone knew the both of them, the siblings who never got along, Ansem's pride and joys. "It means there's a biohazard."

"Pops will be fucking beside himself with joy when he hears you remembered." His fingers slid from her wrist to her hand. His palm was warm against hers. "What's your point?"

"You said we'd be safer in here than outside," she began. "Whatever it is… it's in the air, isn't it?"

The corner of his mouth kicked up into one of his rare half-smiles. "You always were a smart one."

"You didn't answer my question."

He pulled her down a hallway she didn't recognize and stayed quiet. At the third door on the left, he kicked it three times, then pulled her next to him and said, "I'm not going to."

The door slid open with a mechanical hiss, and a boy with blond hair and dead looking blue-blue eyes stood before them, gas valve in one hand, bandana wrapped around the lower half of his face. Axel snickered. "He is."

The boy watched her passively. "Hn."

Kairi glanced between them, then at the valve in the stranger's hand, and thought about the alarm. She paled. "Axel…"

"Sorry, doll," he mumbled, and pulled her into the room. Her arm brushed the boy's chest. "I lied. Gramps has no idea you're here."

"You – you caused the leak, didn't you." She ripped her arm away from him and backed up. They both stared at her with their too-bright eyes. She swallowed against the lump in her throat. "How bad is it?"

"Level Two," the boy said robotically. "It won't kill anybody. Stop freaking out."

She spluttered. Then she went after him.

"_Stop freaking out?"_ she hissed, jabbing a finger into his chest. "You went and probably caused a pandemic. Mass hysteria! Anyone with half a brain will figure out that the alarm means something _bad _and then the whole city is going to _panic _because two _idiots_ fooled around and you're telling me _stop freaking out?"_

Axel gaped at her. "That's the first time I've ever seen you so pissed."

"And you!" she snapped, whirling on him. "Do you have _any _idea how _mad _Grandpa is going to be when he finds out what you did? You'll be lucky if he doesn't ship you off to military school like he threatened to the last time!"

"Last time?" the boy echoed, blinking. Axel rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Blew up a lab at the mansion by mixing too many chemicals," he muttered. "It was pretty awesome to see his face go all red though."

"I don't believe this." Kairi rubbed her temples and leaned against the desk at the front of the room. Apparently, they were in someone's office. "I – I don't want any part of this, Axel. Whatever reason you dragged me here for? Forget it. I won't tell, but I'm not getting involved, either."

"Kairi –"

She ignored him, turning for the door. As her fingers touched the handle, they heard footsteps outside. Without any warning, the blond grabbed her shoulders and pulled her against him, away from the window. The footsteps stopped, and the voices started up. With her head against one strong shoulder and his hands sliding down the leather of her jacket, Kairi found it incredibly hard to focus on what they were saying.

"What do you mean, the gas wasn't Level Two?" someone asked. "All you had to do was label the tanks, Myde."

"I know, I know!" another voice said, slightly meeker. Myde, probably. "But fucking Ienzo was all up on my case for not getting him his files on time and I wasn't paying attention and I accidentally mixed up the two labels."

"Don't blame this on me," another voice said, monotone. "It's not my fault you're completely incompetent."

"Hey -!"

"Be quiet," the only voice with no name attached to it hissed. "What. Level. Was. The gas?"

There was a pause, then, "Level Four."

"Shit," Axel breathed next to her, and exchanged a look she couldn't catch with Roxas above her head. "_Shit."_

The man outside echoed Axel, only a lot louder. Something slammed into the wall, and then, "We need to go see Ansem."

They waited until the footsteps disappeared down the hall before moving away from each other. Kairi put as much distance as she could between them and exhaled through her nose.

"Now, Kairi, I know this looks bad," Axel started, placating. "But really, it's -"

"I take back everything I said before," she interrupted coolly. Both boys gawked at her. She felt her lip curl back over her teeth in a snarl that probably looked a lot more intimidating when Yuffie did it. "You're not _idiots. _You're _absolute morons!"_

The boy winced. "I get the feeling that when she starts yelling, shit hits the fan."

Axel looked a little pale next to him. "You've got no fucking idea."

Kairi ignored them, pacing now. She was getting hysterical, she knew, but at the same time… "Oh my God, _Level Four? _That's almost as lethal as mustard gas, and you just went and leaked it into an entire metropolis without even thinking. Oh my _God."_

Axel walked up to her and grabbed her upper arm. "You need to calm down." The look she shot him was nothing but pure loathing as she shrugged out of his grip. He made a small noise of frustration. "Goddamn it, Kairi, would you just listen to me?"

"_Listen _to you?" she snapped, glaring at him. "You think you actually have an _excuse _for the crap you just pulled? Innocent lives are at danger here, Axel! This isn't one of your stupid games anymore."

"You think I don't know that already." He ran a hand through his hair and all the tension left his shoulders. "Look, it was for a good reason. And if people die, it's not like they died in vain."

Kairi was understandably horrified. "How can you even say –"

"Ansem's developing a nuclear weapon strong enough to wipe out everything within a thirty mile radius of here in one shot," the strange boy said. He finally pulled the bandana away from the bottom half of his face. "The gas leak was supposed to be a distraction while we tried to figure out where it is."

"Because even if there's a gas leak outside," Kairi said absently, "the whole building gets evacuated."

"Exactly," Axel said, tapping her temple. "See? It's possible to think rationally when you're not having a girly shit fit."

"Axel," the blond said, "stop flirting with your sister. It's disturbing."

"Adopted sister," Kairi said automatically. The boy raised his eyebrows. "Now it seems like I'm encouraging him, doesn't it?"

"Just a little bit."

"Now who's flirting," Axel snarked, settling his arm over Kairi's shoulders. She stared in disdain at the hand that on her upper arm. "Anyways, back to the big picture here. Despite the death and destruction us accidentally releasing possibly lethal gas into the civilian world might cause, this actually works out for us."

"Why?" The blond said.

"Us?" Kairi went. "I'm scared."

"As you should be," the boy went. Axel ploughed on.

"See, with the threat of a Level Four biohazard running around in our fair city's air, they're going to evacuate everyone from here to Radiant Garden." He smirked here, one of the ones that showed off the points of his canines. "We've got all the time in the world, now."

"And probably a few hundred bodies," Kairi grumbled.

Axel waved her off. "Technicalities."

She gaped and ducked away from him, horrified. "I don't even know you."

"You don't know _me_, either," the boy said, blinking, as if he only just realized. "Roxas."

"Kairi," she replied, "but you probably already had that figured out."

"Axel never stops talking about you," he deadpanned. "I wish he would."

Axel flipped him off. Kairi, against her better judgement, giggled into the sleeve of her jacket and leaned against the desk again. Then she sobered up again. "Why do you know all this?"

Axel and Roxas exchanged another Look. Kairi had the distinct feeling she was going to hate those looks. Roxas stepped towards her, almost cautious, and frowned a bit. "We can't tell you that."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Then I'm not helping you do anything."

"Don't be difficult, Red."

"You can talk to me about being difficult," Kairi said calmly, eyeing Axel, "when you stop being the most obnoxious person in the world. Oh, looks like we're never going to be having _that _conversation ever."

"You know, you're kind of making me rethink my whole Real Men Don't Hit Girls rule –"

"As if that even applies to you," she retorted. "I've seen thirteen-year-olds with more facial hair_._"

Roxas was flipping through files on the desk as they bickered. Almost lazily, he threw in, "Evacuations are supposed to take place within one day of the alarm going and last roughly two months, depending on the severity of the leak."

They both stopped and stared at him. Kairi walked over to him and leaned a little against his shoulder to read the file as well. "And, how bad _is _the leak?"

Roxas held up the gas valve in his hand and half-smirked at her. "What do you think?"

Kairi had a feeling that it was going to be a very long two months.


	2. one

**TITLE | **sugar, spell it out  
**PROMPT |** in the air tonight  
**FANDOM |** Kingdom Hearts  
**PAIRING |** Roxas/Kairi  
**RATING |** M  
**PART |** 2/5  
**NOTES |** I love these three with a burning, burning passion.

* * *

A week into their strange – and unwanted, if you were Kairi – living situation, Axel and Roxas started snooping around the compound. Kairi stayed in the cafeteria, which had become their base of operations two days in, and picked through the folders they found, looking for anything remotely incriminating. She felt terrible, looking for evidence to prove that the man who had raised her was actually a terrorist, but she figured if she could go through all the files and _not _find anything, it'd be worth it.

Only, it seemed that the more reports she read, the closer they got to proving Ansem's involvement in the nuclear weapon's development. In fact, from the looks of it, he was the head developer on the project. The thought still made her stomach lurch violently.

She was sitting in the middle of the circle of tables they'd created, on top of her sleeping bag, when the two of them walked in. Axel had gone out hours after the evacuation and gotten them all the supplies they'd need for at least a month. Meanwhile, her and Roxas had gone back to her apartment so she could pack. It'd been awkward, but she found herself preferring his company to Axel's. It might've been because he didn't hit on her constantly.

Axel dropped a pile of loose-leaf paper next to her and sat down with a groan. Roxas, from behind a pile of boxes, kicked him in the shin.

"Get up," he deadpanned. "You still have to get the rest of that crap from the research lab."

"There are days where I wish I'd infected you with anthrax when I had the chance," Axel muttered, but got up and loped out of the room anyways, his leather jacket dusty at the cuffs and shoulders. Roxas crouched down, and Kairi helped him put the boxes on the ground.

"Thanks," he said, and took half the pile of unread reports sitting next to her. She smiled at him appreciatively and continued highlighting parts of Ienzo's observations in hot pink. They worked quietly, the only sounds being the shifting of papers and the occasional rustle of denim as their knees brushed. Kairi couldn't remember the last time it'd been this silent – Axel could never stop talking, couldn't go five minutes without commenting on something.

"Found something," Roxas muttered, tapping the page in his hand. Kairi leaned over, her hair touching his shoulder and neck, and blinked. He pointed to an underlined sentence. "Read that."

"Reactor blasted a hole in the lab wall today," she said aloud. "Will tell Myde to move it into a more stable environment with the rest of the project during tomorrow's session."

"It's still in the building," Roxas said, his mouth level with her ear. Kairi turned and looked at him. He continued to stare at the report. "We thought they'd moved it, but it's still here."

"Guess you guys don't have to look very far, then," she mused. "I wonder what they considered a _stable environment _though."

"Probably another lab," he suggested. "The ones in the basement are made of concrete and steel."

"That'd be a good place to start, then," Kairi said, and reached over to the pile sitting at his other side. He gazed down at the top of her head, eyes widening, but she didn't see it. "Sorry, I finished all of mine. I figured I'd help you out."

She grabbed a manila folder labelled 'classified' and started to open it. Roxas glanced at it, then did a double take and took it from her harshly. She spluttered.

"Not this one," he mumbled, and handed her a different file. "I'll read it."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but said nothing else and grabbed the pen behind her ear. Axel came in minutes after that, boxes under each arm, panting a little, and quirked an eyebrow at them. "Getting cozy in here, are we?" He snorted. "Kids these days…"

It was only then Kairi realized how close they were to each other. Their knees were touching, and she was still leaning towards him. They pulled away from each other at the same time. Kairi scooted over enough for Axel to sit down, and exhaled. "He was just showing me something."

"Like what," Axel snarked, plopping down next to her in an unceremonious heap of gangly limbs. "The inside of his mouth?"

"I hate you," Roxas said, tonelessly. Kairi mumbled her agreement and moved over another foot or so.

* * *

At around three or so in the morning, she woke up to Axel and Roxas arguing over something. The neatly stacked files she'd put on one of the cafeteria tables were knocked over and spread across the floor. Axel had his back to her, so she could only make out the set of his shoulders. Roxas was frowning across from him.

"Axel, you already know how this is going to go," he deadpanned. "We find the weapon, we tell Superior its location, we get it out of here, and then we ship it to Radiant Garden. After that, I'm leaving."

Axel cracked his knuckles. "You're an idiot if you think it's just going to end there. They aren't just going to let you leave, Blondie. You can't walk away from a group like theirs. They'll kill you before you make it to the front door."

"I can take care of myself," Roxas said. He was holding the classified folder from earlier. "Besides, it's not like anyone would care if I died."

Kairi found this very sad, felt her heart twist painfully. Axel slumped as the other boy turned away from him, flipping through something she couldn't see. "That's not true," he muttered, loud enough for only her to hear. "I would."

She waited until he'd left the room, fists clenched but posture defeated, before climbing out of her sleeping back quietly and tiptoeing over to Roxas. She reached out and touched his elbow. "You're probably his best friend, you know."

"… I know," Roxas mumbled, showing no indication that she'd surprised him. He kept his back to her, still rifling through papers. "But I can't keep doing this."

She took a chance, and asked, "You can't keep doing what?"

He glanced at her when she stepped up next to him, eyes narrowed – not angrily, but more like he was contemplating something. She didn't try to peek at what he was doing, and he didn't make any move to cover it. "I can't tell you."

"So you can't tell me," she went, slowly, "but you can drag me into the middle of it without a problem? That seems a little hypocritical."

"This whole damn thing is hypocritical," he grumbled, closing the file. She kept staring at him. "_I can't tell you_, Kairi."

"Can't," she asked, "or won't?"

"Both," he said honestly, turning to her. His eyes were still an intense blue, even in the darkness. "Stop asking."

"Is it because you're ashamed of what you've done?" she pressed, taking a step forward. "Or is it because you're scared of what people will think of you if they knew?"

"Neither," he said tightly, voice bordering on a growl. She walked until they were toe-to-toe. Roxas didn't flinch.

"Then tell me," she said. "What've you got to lose?"

He was quiet. Then he stepped away from her and started for the door. "Axel probably went to go look for the weapon. We should help."

"Oh, sure," she muttered, "_now _I can get in on the action. _Boys._"

Ahead of her, Roxas snorted. He stopped in the hallway and waited for her. He was smirking. "Are you going to complain all day or what?"

"_Infuriating,"_ she griped, lashing out with her foot when she passed him. He avoided the kick, but didn't dodge the slap to his shoulder. She smiled despite herself when he sulked. "So, where to first?"

"Basement floor," he said, not nearly as flatly as before. He guided her by the wrist towards the elevator she'd never known existed until then. "You know what it said in the report – whatever we're looking for is there."

"How will you know you've found it?" she asked. When they stepped into the elevator, he dropped her wrist and pushed a few buttons.

"… It's a weapon of mass destruction," he drawled, not looking at her. The elevator started to move. "It won't be too hard to find."

Kairi let the silence linger for a bit, before she finally burst out with a, "You have no idea what it looks like, do you?"

Roxas shot her a withering look, but might, or not might not, have been blushing. "Like I said; it won't be too hard to find."

"We're going to be here forever," Kairi griped. Roxas frowned again, and the elevator jerked to a stop. The doors slid open, and there was Axel, grinning the biggest grin Kairi had seen on him since they were thirteen and he'd dyed all Ansem's clothes hot pink. She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I found it," he all but cackled. His smile wavered for a second when he saw Roxas, but was back in place before she could even blink. "You guys didn't have sex in there, did you?"

Roxas spluttered. "No!"

Kairi sighed. "Totally."

Axel snickered at what must've been the other boy's horrified look – Kairi didn't know, she was already walking down the darkened hall, towards the large doors. Behind her, she could hear them talking quietly.

When she got to the end, she turned. "Are you guys done plotting your devious plan or what? I want to see what this thing looks like!"

"You can't," Roxas went, and winced when she glared.

"Top secret stuff, Princess," Axel continued, patting her on the head. She huffed. "You understand, right?"

"I hate you," she grumbled, then whirled on Roxas. "Why did you bring me down here to help look, then?"

"… Uh," Roxas went, tugging at her collar. Axel was barely suppressing laughter behind her. "I kind of… figured Axel would've found it by the time we got here. The basement isn't that big."

Kairi gawked at him, then stomped back towards the elevator. "Unbelievable."

"I'll see you upstairs!" Axel called, sounding entirely too happy. Roxas was quiet. Kairi only realized once she'd gotten to the elevator that she didn't know how to operate it. She took the stairs, instead.

* * *

Axel had to leave the next morning to tell whoever it was he and Roxas were working for that they'd found the weapon. Kairi helped him put away some files, and kept the one labelled 'classified' when he wasn't looking.

"Don't harass The Human Rock too much while I'm gone," he said, while the three of them stood at the front doors. "And Roxas, if anything happens to her, I'm blaming you."

"What's going to happen to me in an empty laboratory?" Kairi grumbled. Roxas and Axel exchanged A Look.

"It's more like what _couldn't _happen to you," Axel corrected, before squeezing her side and darting away from her fist. "I'll see you guys in a week or something. Later."

There was a very long, awkward pause between them as they watched him walk towards his car, which was still parked out front. Kairi thought about the file hidden under her sleeping bag and tried not to smile. "What're we going to do for a week?"

"Wait," Roxas said dryly. She rolled her eyes and started for the cafeteria. She could hear him trailing behind her with his shuffling footsteps.

"You're a genius," she said back, equally bland, and pushed the metal doors open. Roxas reached around her, arm against hers, and helped. "Thanks."

"No problem," Roxas mumbled, walking past her quickly. He sat down cross-legged on his makeshift pillow and began picking through one of the backpacks.

Kairi touched her elbow and wondered how someone so cold could have skin so warm.


End file.
